Big Picture

Ashlee & Vincent Take NY Plus, Nicole Kidman hangs out with her family and Bradley Cooper is a grizzly guy. The latest pics!

MORE PHOTOS +

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.

Fashion Police

Angelina: Going Grey! Plus, Christina Hendricks, Vanessa Hudgens, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Michelle Williams and Kristen Wiig. Rate the highs and lows!

MORE PHOTOS +

Top Galleries

MORE PHOTOS +

Our Partners

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.

NBC Benches New Heroes

Thu., Nov. 1, 2007 7:59 AM PDT by Gina Serpe

The Writers Guild of America strike has not officially happened yet, but it has already claimed its first casualty.

NBC has indefinitely halted production on a highly touted, planned midseason Heroes spinoff, Heroes: Origins, in anticipation of the Industry-wide writers' strike.

The WGA contract officially expired at midnight Wednesday and that is expected to have far-reaching detrimental effects on scripted television. (Get the latest deets in our previous news story.)

There was no comment from NBC on the plug pulling.

According to the trades, production on Heroes: Origins had not yet begun, and the network was loath to set a premiere date without having to rely solely on, say, fan fiction as the main source of plots. Per Variety, NBC Universal cochairs Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff, in particular, pushed for the postponement in light of the looming work stoppage.

While it's unclear what stage of production the eagerly awaited series was in, the Hollywood Reporter says no scripts had yet been finalized.

The network has so far refrained from uttering the dreaded "c" word, sticking with the purposely vague "indefinitely postponed" until the scribe situation comes into focus.

Origins' six-episode run was originally slated to air in April, during the hiatus of its prime-time forbearer. The project, which aimed to introduce new superfolk to the franchise pantheon, had already attracted top talent, including Kevin Smith, Hostel director Eli Roth and Superman Returns helmer Michael Dougherty, all of whom had signed on to direct and write episodes.

Of course, the looming strike might not entirely be to blame.

Heroes has already suffered a hit this season, with critics bemoaning lame plot points and fans slowly tuning out. Last week's episode averaged just 10.7 million viewers, down 6 percent from the previous week, making it the show's lowest rated telecast to date.